Transport GAP in park

LOCALS in Ballymun turned out in force last month to try out alternative forms of transport at a family friendly event in Poppintree Park.

Organised by Global Action Plan (GAP) Ireland, the event coincided with European Mobility Week, an annual campaign on sustainable urban mobility.
It was the second transport event organised by GAP this year and locals were happy to support the inititive.

Street performer Will Flanagan from PassePartout Entertainment got the fun underway by joining in on the 2.5km travel trail in a sun filled Poppintree Park.

The entertainer also produced a spectacular finale show with fire juggling, daring headstands and plenty of other tricks that left the crowd enthralled. Orla Kelly, from, GAP Ireland, said the event was becoming part of the annual calendar of activities for Ballymun and was attracting great interest from the local community.

“Over a hundred children took part in our June bike week event and this one was no different with over 140 children donning their Road Safety Authority (RSA) high-viz waistcoats, illuminating the park with colour and setting off to complete the travel trail,

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“And there was one lucky participant, Abbey Flynn, aged 6 from Poppintree, who won a scooter for her efforts.

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The aim of the Mobility week campaign was to encourage local authorities throughout Europe to introduce and promote sustainable transport measures and to invite their citizens to try out alternatives to car use. Each year the inititive focuses on a particular topic related to sustainable mobility, the so-called focal theme. This year’s theme was

‘our streets, our choice’, and the aim was to encourge people across Europe to create the type of city that they want to live in.

CEO of GAP Ireland, Vanessa Moore, said:

“We wish to promote travel that is beneficial for the individual, the community and the environment and this mobility week event is a wonderful advertisement for the various alternative forms of transport we can take to our streets.

“We would like to acknowledge volunteers from GAP’s Youth Environment Network (YEN) and Ballymun Regional Youth Resource (BRYR) and resources from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) of Ireland.

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The event was funded by Ballymun Regeneration Limited (BRL).